This invention relates to a method of fishing employing an improvement to the known flippin technique wherein line is drawn from between two line guides, and to a flippin pole having an additional line guide fairly close to the reel so as to prevent open loops of line pulled out by hand from tangling with the reel when the line is allowed to return to the pole, and to provide a longer length of working line in the loop.
Traditional spinning reels and casting reels utilize fishing line which has memory, resulting in the line, when outside of the reel, looping into spirals. When the spirals are larger than the eyelet line guides through which the line, with a hooked bait or other device secured to the end thereof, must pass as the line is cast outwardly away from the pole, the line drags on the line guides, thus significantly reducing the length of the cast. In fact, it has been known to move the line guide closest to the reel one or two inches further away from the reel so as to reduce drag and permit an acceptable length of cast. The size of the spiral loops in the line decreases with distance away from the reel, and therefore, conventional spinning and casting rods have the line guides disposed so that the line guide closest to the reel is a significant fraction of the pole length away from the reel, typically being between 18 inches and 30 inches away from the reel on poles on the order of 5 feet to 8 feet.
To save additional time when in shallow water, the flippin technique was developed about a decade ago to avoid reeling in the bait and recasting it, in order to tease a fish, or to fish successive spots. This is the most effective way to catch fish in heavy weeds or other cover, or in dirty water. Instead, with a length of line extending outwardly from the tip of the pole, and the reel in a line braking mode, the angler pulls an open loop of line away from the rod as shown in FIG. 1, and then either releases the loop of line or guides it back to the pole so as to allow the bait to lower in an area of water to be fished. When it is desired to raise the bait or remove the bait from that area of water, either to reinsert it in the same area or to move it to another area, the angler grabs the line and again pulls an open loop of line away from the pole. The angler also moves the tip of the pole up as he pulls a loop of line, and moves the tip of the pole down as he releases the loop of line. The pole is held in one of the angler""s hands, and the other hand is used to reel-in a fish after a strike; the other hand, on the same side of the pole as the reel crank, is usually also used to pull the loop of line when flippin. The loop of line is therefore usually on the same side of the pole as the reel crank. Therefore, when the line is released, the line tends to tangle around the reel. It is difficult if not impossible to allow the bait to drop as quickly as desired while at the same time guiding the line so as to prevent it from tangling with the reel. In fact, it is common knowledge that the only problem with the flippin technique is the tendency to get the line tangled with the reel, which would cause the angler to loose the fish. When fishing in a bass tournament, anglers tend to cover successive spots of the area being fished very quickly, thereby exacerbating the problem. So as not to startle the target fish when flippin, it is desirable to be as far away from the target fish as possible; therefore, flippin poles (sometimes called xe2x80x9cflippin sticksxe2x80x9d) are heavy (strong) and usually 7xc2xd or 8 feet long. They are also used in a technique called xe2x80x9cpitchingxe2x80x9d, in which the bait is positioned by an underhand cast, for a gentle, accurate presentation; therefore, such rods are sometimes called xe2x80x9cflippin/pitchingxe2x80x9d rods.
Objects of the invention include fishing using the flippin technique without line becoming entangled with a reel; and a flippin pole, the line of which does not become entangled with the reel.
This invention is predicated on the discoveries that the open loop of line formed when fishing with a flippin pole must be kept away from the reel; that an eyelet within a few inches of the reel will keep line, in the loop of line released when fishing with the flippin technique, away from the reel of a flippin pole; and that an eyelet which is fairly close to the reel on the rod of a flippin pole does not impede fishing since the length of the cast is not involved when using a flippin pole.
In accordance with the invention, a method of fishing utilizing the flippin technique comprises pulling a length of line from between two line guides closest to the reel, into a loop away from the pole, and then allowing the loop of line to return to the pole as the bait is lowered in the water.
According to the invention, a flippin pole having a plurality of conventional line guides disposed along the pole near a distal end thereof has an additional line guide disposed on the pole near the reel. A method of fishing utilizing an improvement in the flippin technique comprises pulling a length of line, from between the additional line guide and the one of said conventional line guides closest to said reel, into a loop, and allowing the loop of line to return to the pole, the additional line guide preventing the line from tangling with the reel as it returns to the pole. According to the invention further, a conventional telescoping flippin rod is provided with an additional line guide disposed on the distal end of the proximal portion of the rod so that the additional line guide does not interfere with the retraction of the distal portion of the rod into the proximal portion.
The invention not only avoids tangling of the line with the reel, but it also provides an additional length of line for fishing, substantially equal to twice the distance between the additional line guide and the reel.
Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent in the light of the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments thereof, as illustrated in the accompanying drawing.